I was browsing the internet looking for a nice friendly & chatty cat forum and came upon you guys Reading through a few threads made me realise that I had found a lovely site I live in Alnwick which is in Northumberland in the United Kingdom....so apologies in advance for any spelling mistakes and differences

I'm Gill, 44 years old, married to Neil and we are slaves to two little tyrants....err I mean Precious Angels....called George and Suzi Both are, sadly, FeLV+ but we knew this when they came to live with us and it certainly didn't put us off.

For the past three years we have been long-term fosterers for the old and abused cats in a local small rescue - the People's Animal Rescue & Rehoming Team (PARRT). So far we've had 10 cats from the charity - usually old ones with ongoing health issues - and we find it SO satisfying to show these precious oldies love and warmth and a full belly. Some have only been with us a few weeks before leaving for Rainbow Bridge and others have stayed months. We cry buckets when each one leaves us but it never stops us, once we dry our tears, picking up the phone to Linda who runs the charity and seeing if she has anyone special in need of some love. The longest we remained cat-free was in August this year when Misty succumbed to cancer after 14 months with us. She hated and trusted no humans when she came to us but in her last few months she really changed and became a feisty but loving old lady. When she passed on we said ''No more!'' We lasted three weeks!
George came home to us on September 9th. His 'story' is: He was dumped in a box in the garden of a veterinary nurse and she took him into her workplace, did all the health checks etc and rang Linda. She, the nurse, couldn't keep George as her own two cats wouldn't accept him and when blood tests revealed him to be FeLV+ she certainly couldn't risk her own two. George went to stay with Mel who has fostered for PARRT for a while...though she normally takes the feral kittens and tames them. Her house was empty at the time so she took George and he soon became known as Gorgeous George because of his amazing loving placid nature. Three months after his initial blood test George underwent another to see if his body had beaten the FeLV virus but sadly it hasn't. Mel would have quite happily have kept George if he wasn't carrying the virus but having had a cat years ago that succumbed to it she felt that she simply couldn't bear to see Gorgeous George go through it. And that's where Neil and I came in!
Suzi came home to us on 23rd October and her story is: she was, basically, used as a breeding machine from a very very young age - just so her 'humans' (for want of a better description!) could sell the kittens for money! Even just a couple of years ago kittens were changing hands for a lot more money than they had even just a decade earlier because, due to folk getting their cats neutered, kittens were scarce. As often happens the idiots just saw £££ and jumped onto the bandwagon and didn't neuter their cats so they could make money from the resulting kittens! When kittens didn't sell they were dumped....with charities if the kittens were lucky! That's how Suzi ended up with PARRT - she wasn't 'earning her keep' so her humans didn't want her!!! PARRT spayed her and she was temporarily housed with another fosterer. When we heard about her, and how she was having to live in a bedroom all on her own as Patti's other 11 cats did not have the FeLV virus, we immediately drove around with our cat basket
George was rather horrified at this Big Scary Monster in His House But after a couple of weeks of skirting around each other they both relaxed and they now get on great.
Both are still very healthy and happy with no signs of the virus but we both accept that they probably won't reach their teens But, for now, they are both in their Forever Home and will be pampered and loved to within an inch of their velvet paws for however long they ARE with us

Amazing! Hi. I'm Courtnee and I am from So. Indiana, USA. I just want to express how much I admire your desire to help and take in these special cats. They are both beautiful! Your George reminds me of my Theo

I can't help but say that I adore black cats and I've had a few in my life. My recent one passed away in February, because he couldn't eat anymore. He was a very nice cat, loved grooming me, gave me hugs & kisses, talked to me A LOT, and he certainly loved being petted! He even loved being held! He was a playful cat and had an insane sense of humor that was just perfect!

Congrats on getting these two a nice home and a nice family, and welcome to the forums! If you need any help, or have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Theo IS very like George, isn't he? Bet he's an absolute sweetheart too!

We didn't know anything about Suzi other than that she'd had umpteen litters of kittens and had FeLV. She had no name and we didn't even know what colour she was! So when I saw a small black cat peering out from behind the curtain in the bedroom I was thrilled to bits as I ADORE black cats And yes, she DOES know how gorgeous she is
When we first brought her home we kept her in our bedroom with her food, water & litter tray and didn't try to force anything onto her - everything is done at the cat's pace here. We would go in now and then and just sit on the floor about 3ft from her as she lay on a blanket and she seemed friendly enough.
After a couple of days just left the door open so she could explore the flat in her own time. George was rather wary of her but never showed any aggression and after a few weeks I came home from work to find them next to each other as in the photo above....I quickly grabbed my cxamera and took that pic straight away. Since then they've really relaxed with each other and even play chasing games at times and sleep in beds next to each other.
When George came home he immediately fastened himself to me and became a right Mummy's Boy so Suzi was supposed to be Neil's cat.....except she has decided that Mummy is much more fun to be with! She's actually stretched out across my desk as I type this!!!!! I'm squeezed into the corner!!!!! WHY do we let cats take over like this
They both know that I'm putty in their paws and just know that I cannot resist them anything when they look at me and mew and, especially Suzi, wind hemselves around my bare legs

Ha! It is so true. My husband and I are only allotted so much here at our house. If I could just get them to pay the mortgage! We have four cats. Dario 8 yrs, Ella 4, Oliver 1.5' and Theo 10 months. If I sound like I am introducing my children well... I am of sorts because I guess you could say they are our kids. Dario is a rescue and the other three were adopted from our local shelter.
Ella loves my husband and the three boys hang with me. Dario (that's him in my profile pic, gray) he's my best friend. My husband, Mark, always says "if want to find Courtnee just look for Dario and visa versa".
You have a big heart. George and Suzi are very lucky they found you! >^..^<

Kudos to OP for having the heart to take care of those precious angels. If I was rich I'd set up a sanctuary for cats and see them all live good lives. But since I'm not, it warms my heart to see people loving their cats!

Gillycat you will really enjoy it here!! I always feel as if I am talking to family....only better!! Your babies are beautiful, and God bless you for taking in the old and unwanted kitties. There is no shortage of them but we can try to do our part by loving them for as little or as long as we are given with them.

We love our oldies so much There's just something about an older cat. When we lost Domino (I'll do a separate thread soon to introduce them all as it DOES get confusing to, in general, anyone except me! ) I was devastated because she was SUCH A character....a tiny scrap of bones with the heart of a lion! Neil dragged me along to Linda's and I was ADAMANT that I couldn't go through the heartbreak anymore and wanted kittens! But as we sat in Linda's living room I just looked at her own two cats who were mature ladies and then looked at Neil and thought ''Who are we kidding?'' That's when we came home with Thomas and Misty.

George is approx 2 years old and Suzi three so they are kittens compared to my usual pensioners Suzi especially is SO playful and, I think, making up for a lost kittenhood

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